Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement today, and actually I just want to make a little reference to the Minister of Justice, the Minister that’s responsible for the Anti-Poverty Strategy. He mentions every one of the Ministers on Cabinet and what they’re doing to help address the Anti-Poverty Strategy. That is great because, really, we all have a part to play in this very serious issue when it comes to the high rates of our Aboriginal people in the corrections and jail systems. I do believe that this government is taking a very proactive step, and taking the right steps...

Just one other question in regard to these reintegrated strategies or the plan for when individuals are released and go back to their communities. Is this plan part of the application process for an individual’s request for parole? So would an inmate who developed a plan have a better chance of getting parole than one that didn’t have a plan? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. As I mentioned during question period, I was looking at the 10-year strategic plan that you guys have in place here. Under one of the headings there’s “provide integrated programs and services to offenders,” and it mentions that the department will be working on doing individual needs assessments and strategies related to the mental health or cognitive disabilities. It talks about intensive therapeutic interventions for addictions or violent behaviours. Where is the department on this and what type of programs are actually addressing the addictions and the violent...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With a lot of the crimes that we see in the Northwest Territories related to alcohol and drug offenses, would the Minister be looking at possibly developing a policy for our correctional facilities, that anyone that goes in on an alcohol or drug-related offense, that they have to take mandatory alcohol and drug treatment programs during their incarceration to help them heal and to help them get the rehabilitation that they need? Would he look at creating a policy and is there any policy in any other jurisdictions in the correctional facilities? Thank you.

Thank you. All these very great programs that are allowed into the jail systems, we almost have better services in the jails than we do in our communities, which is very unfortunate.

With these treatment programs, are they mandatory to take these programs or are they on a voluntary basis for the inmates? Thank you

We have some really great youth programs out there, Youth Ambassador Program, Northern Youth Abroad Program. Skills Canada is doing a great job. We do all these programs to empower our youth. Is there something that we can do to empower our volunteers and empower our youth, our workforce who provide these programs to the youth? I guess my question is: Would the Minister be willing to look at creating, coordinating and planning for a youth symposium for our volunteers for our workforce who provide these programs for youth so that they can share their stories, so that they can work the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’m going to be speaking on the Inuvik-Tuk highway. Yesterday we had a couple of strong statements and some questions in the House that gives a perception out there that our government is actually hiding something in terms of moving forward on this project and that deals are being done behind closed doors.

I sat here and I listened to it, and I felt that I had to say something today that we do have a process, and that process is waiting for the right correspondence from the federal government. The Minister sat up in the House yesterday. He explained himself. He...

Thank you. Under the socio-economic agreements, is the Minister negotiating dollars for this type of training? He did mention it, but I mean specifically for Skills Canada, because Skills Canada are a small office that do a lot of really good work and they have participants who have gone through the program who have won national awards, international awards, and it would be a great opportunity to continue to support these individuals that go through the Skills Canada program. So is the Minister negotiating specific training dollars for Skills Canada so that we can start supporting participants...

I think it’s a great idea and it’s an opportunity to evaluate programs, share what the programs are, an opportunity for organizations to give details on the programs that they provide so other organizations can jump on board, and also develop some really great partnerships. It would be an opportunity for the youth ambassadors to probably coordinate such a symposium. A lot of positives here. Can the Minister provide, possibly, a timeline, whether this is something that we can see in the ’13-14 fiscal year or ’14-15 fiscal year?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today we had a really good briefing from Skills Canada NWT and it got me thinking about youth programs and all the programs that they do with such a small office. But it got me thinking to a bigger level, and today I have questions for the Minister of Youth in regard to possibly the creation or the development of a youth symposium.

First of all, I just want to ask the Minister of Youth, has there ever been a youth symposium for youth providers of the Northwest Territories, in his knowledge as the Minister of Youth. Has there ever been a youth symposium where providers...